Chapter 3 Rejecting The Bond

"I still can't believe you are here, Diana. I am so glad you finally start to come out of your shell." Luna Riza gave Diana a list of to-do before placing a whole platter of pancakes before her. The middle-aged blonde Luna continued with her natural sweet voice. "Nathan is still not here. He is with Alpha Dylan and your father surveying the borders where the rogue attacks are frequent."

Diana frowned. She did not remember this event from her past life. "Why are they there instead of checking the area for the Tribute Ceremony, Luna?"

Luna Riza leaned and whispered, although it was pointless since werewolves got a sensitive hearing. "My husband mind-linked me just now. He talked about blowing some steam." She shrugged. "I don't know what's going on inside the mind of the alpha who singlehandedly defeated the northern rogues."

Diana was about to find some alibi to excuse herself when Luna Riza's cellular phone rang. The latter's face lit up upon reading the caller's ID. Diana took this chance to walk away with the list in her hand when she heard the name she both dreaded and longed to hear.

"Axel dear? What's the matter?"

Crumpling the to-do list, she stopped in her tracks. With Luna Riza's back against her direction, the latter was not able to see how Diana looked back with a pair of deadly eyes and clenched jaws. For a good moment, her canines flashed threateningly before she snapped herself back from the depraved state she was in and turned away.

With a pounding heart, Diana absentmindedly entered a room to hide her growing agitation. Chest heaving and breaths labored from uncontrolled anger, she slid down the floor with her back against the door. "Axel! Just you wait. You will feel three times the pain of what my family did before I kill you with that wench. You will pay for the death of my-"

A pained gasp escaped from Diana's lips when a firm calloused hand gripped her neck before pinning her down to the floor.

Amid the dark room, a pair of predatory electric blue eyes hovered over her.

'There is someone inside this room! I trespassed a private territory!' Diana screamed at the back of her mind.

Coughing out her words, she patted the firm hand frantically as she said. "N-No! Forgive me for trespassing mindlessly, but I entered your room without any sinister thoughts. I was merely in trouble so I sought refuge at the nearest shelter I could access to! I swear!"

Diana's chest started to tighten and her throat was slowly getting crushed as she squeaked her words out. Still, the hand refused to loosen its grip as if the person did not hear her at all! Her coughing fit became erratic as she slowly shut her eyes. "P-Please! I don't want to die yet, not now!"

The grip vanished the moment she was thrown to the nearest cabinet.

"Ah!" Rolling like a dumpling, Diana bit back her tears as she slowly stood to apologize once more. After all, it was a common courtesy in the pack house-filled with territorial werewolves-to never enter a room when not invited. Because of the darkness that cloaked the room, she could only see a faint silhouette of the owner of the bright blue eyes. By the build alone, she reckoned it was a man with a rank of at least a gamma.

Hands clasped before her, she bowed her head slightly. "I apologize for trespassing. And... thank you for not snapping my neck." She whispered the last part before she turned around to leave the room.

"You said you don't want to die 'yet'. There was a conviction in your voice as if-"

"As if I have long decided I want to die?" Diana turned around, eyes connecting with a pair of clear blue eyes which reminded her of the deep azure ocean. She smiled at him, knowing he would not see it. "You speak as if you carry the same luggage I do. Why is that?"

The sound of footsteps resonated inside the room. On instinct, Diana took a step back once, twice, thrice... until her back hit the wall and there was no more space left to maintain the narrowing distance between her and the blue-eyed man.

His stature hovered over her small frame, forcing her to lift her chin higher just to meet his intense gaze. On instinct, she knew she was someone on par with her father. Realization dawned upon her who he was. After all, the only people who could rival her father's dominance were Alpha Nathan and the Blood Alpha-and she grew up knowing Alpha Nathan, leaving her with only one choice.

It was the Blood Alpha.

Alpha Dylan Cain-slayer of rogues, breaker of fate, and protector of the werewolf community-was standing a foot away from her!

He leaned down and whispered into her left ear. "You are lucky to be broken the same as me." He took a step backward. His deep, sexy voice held no warmth. "I don't have the penchant for breaking what is already broken. Letting you live is punishment enough. Knowing death is what you desired but still can't obtain it, feel that disparity every day, brave one."

Something in her snapped from what he said. Instead of scampering away, she took a step forward.

Their distance was back to one foot again.

A scheming smile etched on her lips as she spoke the words that would turn her fate upside down.

"What if I told you that there is no reason for us to live the remaining days of our lives in isolation? As a kindred spirit, I can offer you my service that won't let you down until the day you finally decide to leave this world."

"Leave."

Diana shrugged. She did not know where her fear was. What she knew was the fact that she could not let go of this chance to settle the blood debt between them from her first timeline.

"You will not regret taking me by your side. I don't want you. I want your power."

"I said leave!"

The stale air within the dark room vibrated upon his growl, but it only earned the Blood Alpha a pair of blinking eyes from Diana.

Diana was about to open her lips when the door opened and the familiar voice of her father resonated. "Diana? What the heck are you doing here?"

Light flooded inside the room as soon as her father turned on the light. The first thing she saw was a set of clenched jaws and a pair of sharp blue eyes pinned on her. Her gaze immediately traveled down to his bare chest, to his set of firm six-pack abs, and to his Adonis belt. Gulping while walking away, an overly stretched grin was plastered on her face as she looked at her ashen father.

"Dad, you're here! Come and help me apologize to Alpha Dylan. I barged here unannounced." She linked her right arm with her father's as she tugged him.

Frowning, her father muttered under his breath, fully knowing it was out of character for his timid daughter to suddenly enter someone else's room-much more to the alpha she was afraid of the most. "W-Why did you barge here in the first place?"

"Just apologize for your daughter, Dad." Diana muttered back, her grin still on her face as she observed the stoic-looking Blood Alpha who was looking at her as if she was some kind of piece of meat-ready to be shredded apart, not eaten.

Chuckling awkwardly, Beta Mason uttered an apology. Stretching his hand, the middle-aged Beta said. "This is the first time my daughter is in the pack house after many years of isolating herself at home. Please do forgive her after the disturbance she had caused."

"Leave. I hate saying things twice." Instead of accepting the outstretched hand of Beta Mason, Alpha Dylan turned around and strode his way to the other side of the room where the sofa was situated, dismissing the father-and-daughter duo.

Clearing his throat, Beta Mason withdrew his hand and tugged his daughter from the room.

Reluctantly, Diana let his father pull her along. When she was about to leave the room with her father closing the door, she could not help herself but look back at the broad back of the man who could only turn the tides of her fate.

'No matter what, I will have you on my side. Even if it means winning the bloody Tribute Ceremony, I will do so with open arms as long as you will become my pawn in this game of revenge. The blood debt between us is yet to be settled, remember that. This... This is not over.' Diana thought with open determination.

With the door closing, Diana slowly lost her line of vision pinned on him. But when the door was about to be closed, she saw him turn around.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go and explain to me in detail what happened."

'I am sure I did not hallucinate,' Diana pondered. 'But are they really the eyes of the supposed Blood Alpha? Why do they look so... so melancholic? Why does it bother me so?'

Shaking her head, Diana followed her father, not daring to look back at the closed door of the renowned ruthless werewolf.

ON THE OTHER SIDE, ALPHA DYLAN Cain opened his room's windows and jumped from the two-story pack house. Racing his bare feet to the foggy forest, he shredded his human skin as he shifted into his black-furred wolf form. Snarling and growling, his colossal form turned the forest into a place of isolation and danger.

Wave after wave, the mind links of his people flooded his mind. With a growl, he shut down the connection of the link to his brethren. Reflected within his predatory blue eyes was the image of the frail-looking yet scheming woman.

'Mate! Mate! Mate!' His wolf, who had slept for years after losing their first mate, howled with anticipation at the back of his chaotic mind.

He growled once more, contradicting his bestial instincts.

The image of the daring woman overlapped with the bloody picture of his first mate. 'I cannot pull her to my dark world. No one.... No one can withstand the oblivion that is sucking me away and I will not steal her future for my selfish desires. This is the least I can do for her as her mate.'

'Diana... I have to reject you.'